Instrument for removing ribs.



No. 813,877. PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906. A. W. FRENTZEN da J. SGHOEMAKER. INSTRUMENT POR REMOVING RIBS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7. 1905.

' WIT/VESSES' @w Mayu/(ga UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

ALBERTUS WILLEM FRENTZEN AND JAN SGHOEMAKER, OF LEIDEN,

NETHERLANDS.

INSTRUMENT FOR RMOVING RlBs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27', 1906.

Application filed January 7, 1905. Serial No. 240,116.

170 a/Z w/w'n/b zit' may concern,.-

lBe it known that we, ALBERTUS WILLEM FRENTZEN and JAN ScHoEMAKER, residing at 47 Rapenburg, Leiden, Netherlands, subjects of the Queen of the Netherlands, have invented a certain new and useful Instrument for Removing Ribs, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to an instrument for the removal of ribs.

In the case of operations which have for their object the complete or partial removal of a rib from the human body or from that of animals hitherto after having cut through the skin the rib at the inner side of the chest has been exposed by means of a suitable instrument, the pleura being detached from it, and then the rib has been separated by means of scissors, a saw, or the like. This is a difficult piece of work and involves the loss of much time, as the pleura must under no circumstances be damaged during the operation.

A considerable amount of time is saved and the operation can also be performed by less skilful operators if the instrument described below is employed.

A suitable form of such an instrument is shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the instrument. Fig. 2 is a vertical section, 1 1, of Fig. 4, the shanks of the instrument, however, being shown broken. Fig. 3 is a plan of the knife. Fig. 4 is a plan of the whole instrument without the knife. Fig. 5 is an under view of the knife.

The instrument has substantially the form oppositely-situated lobe-shaped proj ections,

f of the flat knife f, which is plane on its under surface. The latter possesses a swallowtail-shaped groove f2 and two recessesj13 and f4, which are connected together and situated in front of said groove, as well as the oval cutting edge f The shank b of the instrument carries a projection or toe c and a smoothly-iinished hook-shaped bent continside-that is, where the knife f grazes over It.

On the toe a a metal piece h is attached by means of screws g, said piece having a trape- Zoidal4 cross-section and corresponding eX- actly to the cross-section of the groove a2. On assembling the instrument the metal piece 7L comes to lie in this groove, so that in combination with the groove f2 said piece forms a positive guide for the knife A leaf-spring i or the like is fastened by means of a rivet k on the shank a of the instrument, said spring carrying at its free end a small roller Z, which is adapted to revolve easily, which roller lies continuously against the inner surface of the shank b. The object of the arrangement of the spring i is of course to hold open the pincers.

The instrument is used in the following manner: After the skin has been cut in order to expose the rib the first available piece of the rib to be cut lthrough is laid bare by means of a suitable instrument, so that at this-place the pleura is removed from the rib. The operator then takes hold of instrument forming the subject-matter of the present application in such a way that it is turned with its hook a2 towar'd the pleura, and the operator then pushes the hook on the piece of the rib which has been. laid bare and then presses the instrument along the rib, which can be effected by jerks, and so loosens the pleura more and more from the rib until he has advanced the instrument to the place at which the separation of the rib is to take place. He now presses the two Shanks a and b of the instrument tightly together, whereby the knife f is moved toward the hook a2, and finally passes over the same, whereby the cutting through of the rib is effected.

In order that the edge of the knife may not penetrate into the pleura during this operation and thereby injure the latter, the travel of the knife is so limited that the same does not project its cutting edge past the edge of the continuation-piece a2 when the shanks a and Z) are completely pressed together.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to Secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. An instrument for the separation and cutting through of ribs, comprising a pair of tongs, a hook carried by one member, said nation-piece c2, which is plane on its upper A IOO hook being approximately at right angles to the member and projecting in a directionaway from the opposing member, and a knife carried by the said opposing member and having movement over the outer face of the hook.

2. An instrument for the separation and cutting through of ribs, comprising a pair of tongs, on one member of which at the outer end is a hook standing at right angles to the member, for encircling the rib while the other member likewise at the outer end is supplied with a fiat knife standing at right angles thereto, said knife working in a guide on the member having the hook.

3. An instrument of the character described, comprising two members pivoted together intermediate of their ends, a knife jointed to the end of one member and projected inwardly, and a hook projecting outwardly from the end of the other member and over the outer face -of which the knife has guided movement.

4. An instrument of the character described, comprising two members pivoted together intermediate of their ends, a knife secured to the end of one member and projecting inwardly, said knife being provided with a groove on its inner face, an inwardly-projecting toe on the end of the other member and having a projection entering the groove of the knife, and an outwardly-projecting hook on the end of the member having the toe.

5. In an instrument of the character described, the combination with ivoted Shanks, one of which is provided wit a recess in its end, of a knife carried bysaid shank and coacting with the other shank, said knife being provided with spaced projections between which the recessed end of the shank extends, and a pin carried by the projections and engaging the recess of said shank.

6. ln an instrument of the character described, the combination with pivoted Shanks, of an inwardly-projecting knife secured to the end of one shank and provided with a longitudinal groove on its inner face, and an inwardly-projecting toe on the end of the other shank and provided with a projection corre v spending in shape to the groove of the knife. In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names this day, 28th of November, 1904, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERTUS WILLEM FRENTZEN. JAN SCHOEMAKER. Witnesses:

JOHN W. CARROLL, W. MAoKAY. 

